Tumbling Backwards
by TricksterThief
Summary: He had never thought he would see that face again. MarcoAce. Friendship-ish? ONESHOT. AU-ish.


_**Tumbling Backwards**_

**Genre: **Angst/Romance(?)/Friendship

**Pairing(s):** MarcoAce (if you want); hints of others if you so wish.

**Warning(s):** AU; Angsty stuff; Fluff-ish

**Status: **COMPLETE.

xxx

Marco had never thought he would ever see that face again. It had been years and _years_ since his pirate life, and the world had long changed from what it had used to be. He'd seen, _had been a part of_, the world changing, but he always remembered his time as a son of Whitebeard the clearest. It was the time where he'd been _home_, instead of the endless wandering he now did.

And he would never forget the faces of his brothers, especially not _this_ one. _Portgas D. Ace_. The man who had been so fierce and fiery in his life; so bright and shining and never wavering. A smile that never failed to soothe his nerves and a laugh that was contagious enough to make him laugh too. The hole left behind was deep, and dark and forever hurting.

It wasn't the first time he'd seen or spotted a familiar face, but it was the first time in seeing _his_. The messy black hair and the dark eyes and the freckles made his heart clench tightly, a burning ache starting to bloom inside of him. He could never mistake that face for someone else's.

He stopped walking, his lips parting, (to say what, he didn't know) but nothing escaped from his suddenly dry throat. He simply watched with wide eyes as the man continued walking, previously blank face splitting into a grin as he caught sight of something up ahead. His heart pounded heavily, his blood rushing through his body and making the noise around him vanish. His stomach twisted and a slightly strangled noise left his throat.

_God_, his mind whispered. _That smile..._

With his eyes still wide, Marco continued to watch as the freckled man quickened his pace and raised an arm in greeting, a bright laugh splitting the air as he called out, "Luffy! Sabo!"

Marco started, his heart pounding in his chest and palms sweaty as Ace reached the two other boys (Luffy….Sabo… his mind whispered. He hadn't seen their faces before either.) waiting for him on the corner. Luffy tackled Ace in a hug, mouth moving a mile a minute while Ace laughed and hugged the younger boy back.

Sabo grinned slapping a hand on Ace's back in greeting, then pulling him into a half hug and saying something. Marco knew he should stop staring but he couldn't bring himself to tear his gaze away from the strong back (the one that had protected his brother a lifetime ago from death).

He was startled out of his staring when curious dark eyes caught his. He blinked slowly, forcing himself to relax. A confused smile was directed at him and a tan, freckled hand raised itself in a bemused wave.

Marco could feel tears pricking his eyes, but he pushed them back and raised his own hand in a wave, lips stretching into a smile that he couldn't quite keep the melancholy out of, before he turned his back and forced himself to walk away.

He never made himself a part of their lives anymore after the first few too many heartbreaks. It was just too painful, to _torturous_, for him to do that anymore. He couldn't take watching his friends fade away over and over again while he stayed the same. But this one..._this one_...

It took everything he had to walk away.

xxx

Ace didn't really pay much attention to the blonde he'd walked passed in order to get to his brothers. His only thought had been: _His hair sorta looks like a pineapple_. But then Luffy was tackling him in a hug and talking a mile a minute about his day at school and the blonde was pushed out of his mind. "-and Zoro got into a fight with Sanji again, but this time _Hawky _interrupted it and Zoro's face turned _so_ red! Oh, and then! Sanji tried to make fun of him for it, but Bonney dragged him away by the ear! It was hilarious!"

Ace snorted out a loud laugh, shaking his head as he hugged his younger brother. Luffy usually had the best stories about school, even if he didn't learn all that much in actual study wise. Not that the kid was failing or anything. Not with his demon of a tutor. "Sounds like you had a pretty fun day, Lu," the freckled man snickered, ruffling the shorter boy's hair.

Sabo slammed his hand on his back in greeting, pulling him into a half hug and saying, "What's with the blonde guy staring at you?" Ace blinked in confusion, brow furrowing and Luffy stopped chattering to peer around Ace's body to see what Sabo was talking about.

Curious, Ace turned around and met the shocked blue eyes of the pineapple haired guy he'd passed by earlier. The man blinked slowly, and he offered a confused smile and a slightly befuddled wave. Sabo gave him a look that plainly asked, '_do you _know_ him?_', Ace didn't answer him, caught by the smile that spread across the stranger's face and wave directed back at him.

Then the man turned his back and walked away.

But the smile didn't leave his mind.

Why had it been so wistful and mournful?

Why had he stared at him like he'd just seen a ghost?

"Hey, Ace," Sabo started, pulling the older man from his thoughts. "Did you know that guy?" The blonde was staring at him inquisitively with a raised eyebrow, but the smirk on his face was telling a whole nother story. What he was really asking was if the man had been a one night fling or something and why didn't he know about it?

Luffy chimed in with a total deadpanned, "His hair looked like a pineapple."

Ace resisted the urge to face palm and answered calmly instead, "No, I didn't know that guy. I've never seen him before in my life." Somehow that statement felt like a lie as much as it was the truth at the same time. Sabo frowned in confusion, and he shrugged at him. Luffy simply blinked, head cocked to the side. "Whatever. Let's just go."

xxx

Marco didn't get any sleep that night, not that he got much sleep lately anyways. This point in time seemed to be filled with faces from the pace, and it was as if he couldn't go by a day without seeing or running into at least one. Yesterday had been the worst though.

Seeing Ace.

_(Screams. Blood. Pain. Somuchpain. Why couldn't he be smart for once in his life? No. Nonononono. HE COULDN'T BE DEAD NO WHY GOD HIS BROTHER. __**RAGE**__. agony. must protect his will.)_

Seeing Sabo.

_(he heard about it the papers. Sabo. Ace's other brother. Dying to save the same little brother. Just like Ace. no why was this happening. why was it always the brothers? old wounds ripping open.)_

Seeing Luffy.

_(he'd made his dream. But he'd never been the same after Sabo. he'd only just got his brother back before he lost him all over again. Marco hadn't let himself stay away. the kid held Ace's will. and he would die _(but he couldn't, could he?) _before he let that vanish into nothing.)_

All three of them together and happy. _Ace had been smiling_ (but he had been smiling when he was dying, hadn't he?).

He shuddered lightly and forced the memories back into the depths of his mind, just in time to bump into a smaller body. He let out a grunt, eyes snapping open and meeting startled dark eyes. "Ah," the freckled man started eyes wide and mouth gaping open. "Pineapple hair dude!"

Marco choked and before he knew it he was doubled over in laughter, close to hysterics and nearly wheezing for breath. He hadn't heard that moniker in _years_. The last had been Thatch, and he hadn't run into that man in this lifetime quite yet. He finally managed to control himself, straightening and smirking widely.

The blonde was nearly sent into another fit of hysterics by the embarrassed and red cheeked Ace that was hunching his shoulders and carefully not looking at him. The lingering shadows of his memories had been wiped away in an instance and Marco felt a knot he hadn't known was there relax and vanish.

"It wasn't _that_ funny," Ace muttered, glancing over at him and trying to ignore the fact he was blushing and could _feel_ his ears burning.

Marco snickered, flapping a hand and explaining, "It wasn't so much that, as it's been a _very_ long time since I've heard someone call me that to my face." He relaxed back, slouching slightly as he shoved his hands in his pockets and said, "Name's Marco. Sorry about yesterday, you reminded me a lot of a friend I had and it startled me."

Ace faced him fully, blush fading and asked tentatively, "...Is your friend dead? You looked like you had seen a ghost."

The usual almost all consuming pain that usually accompanied that question, came as only a slight twinge. Ace watched, mesmerized as the older man's eyes softened greatly and a melancholy smile tugged at his lips. "Yeah. He's been gone for a long time," he said softly.

Ace swallowed, shifting uncomfortably and the tips of his ears were turning red again. He shouldn't have asked. Sabo would be punching him for his insensitivity. Marco shook his head, smile turning playful as he said, "You didn't tell me your name."

"Oh! Ace," the freckled man stammered, rubbing the back of his neck and grinning crookedly. "The name's Ace."

Marco smirked, eyes going half lidded as he held his hand out and purred, "Well, _Ace_, it's a pleasure to meet you." Maybe it was time to let go. Just because they all went away eventually, didn't mean they vanished forever. They would always live on in his memories.

Ace gulped, licking his lips and grasping the offered hand, and staring up at the taller man through his lashes, a somewhat coy grin tugging his lips, "Pleasure's all mine, _Marco_."

_FIN_

FOXGEISHA: Bleurgh. Isn't _quite_ what I wanted, but I'm still pretty satisfied with it, nonetheless, hahahahaha.

Also, bonus:

When Ace brought Marco with him to meet up with his brothers and friends, Luffy took one look at the blonde and stood abruptly pointing a finger at him and exclaiming in shock, "AH! IT'S THE MYSTERY FIRE CHICKEN!"

Dead silence met his exclamation, and no one was prepared for Marco's automatic response of, "IT'S PHOENIX, YOU RUBBER IDIOT_!_"

Upon processing the words through his mind again, Marco simply stared at the madly grinning boy before bursting into hysterical laughter, and not explaining anything to Ace or anyone else's confused questions.

_Of all the people...!_


End file.
